Child’s Play: Cost-Efficient Tips For Organising With Kids. When it comes to childcare, it’s easy to get buried under the tirade of cleaning, cooking, and entertaining, and you can often spend a small fortune in the process. If you want to juggle the demands of daily admin and keep the kids happy, you need to get organised – here are a couple of tips to help you save money and get a handle on things.
Microtia Management
Families possessing children with microtia may need to attend more hospital visits than normal (depending on the age), or the child in question may struggle with hearing. It’s important, in any case, to exercise maximum patience and to work to reassure your child that they are not defined by their condition. Stories of others with microtia can help with this.
Whether you’re organising meals, documents, your professional life, or a medical condition, planning ahead will help to ensure a calmer, cheaper way of life. Make sure to use the best of your quiet time and a few handy downloads to get the most out of your week.
Microtia UK is a registered charity that is dedicated to supporting people born with microtia. Microtia results in underdeveloped ear(s) and impacts hearing. Learn more about our work at: www.microtiauk.org
Batch Cooking
Buying in bulk and preparing food in advance is one of the surefire ways to reduce costs, save time and alleviate some mid-week stress. A good first step is to adopt batch recipes with a focus on grains and canned and dried foods. It’s often best to pick out genre-neutral ingredients that you know can be used for a wide variety of dishes – canned tomatoes, spices, olives, and more won’t lose their flavour over time and can ensure delicious meals for all the family over long stretches of time.
Calendar Management
You’ll probably already know that to survive parenthood, time management is crucial, as is learning how to balance your calendar – some free apps can help with this by allowing you to plan timelines, set alerts, and automate tasks all from a mobile device. This means you can lay out your weekly itinerary in a quiet moment when you’re thinking clearly and focus on the task at hand when you’re in the bustle of the day.
File Management
Keeping track of important documents is made harder in the midst of childcare. One useful strategy is to move away from paper and instead try to store files digitally – whether it’s medical records, financial reports, or other contracts, you’ll find it easier to find, manage and move around files on a computer. You can start by saving PDFs of documents on your iPhone – this allows you to access them on the go, even if you don’t have Wi-Fi (just remember where you saved it).
Decluttering
It’s amazing just how much of a profound effect a good decluttering can have both on home logistics and mental health. There are many excellent guides available online that will help you to carry through with this process in a clever, productive way and utilise minimal storage space. You may even find it’s a good opportunity to earn some extra cash. There is also a lot to be said about keeping the home organised after you’ve decluttered – before purchasing new items, make sure you have the space to accommodate them or figure out what needs to be moved/removed prior.
Working From Home
Remote working has been a blessing for many time-stretched parents but can also pose new problems, especially when the kids run riot during meeting hours. It’s important, though, to create a clear separation between work and family – this should be represented physically either with walls or, if that’s not possible, cleverly placed furniture. Failing this, a pair of noise-cancelling headphones is often worth the cost.
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